Popstar Princess
by KiethBlackLion
Summary: These are the adventures of Allura, a world famous popstar, and her entourage. Her boyfriend Keith dreams of his old days as a boy band heart throb. Lance, her fast talking agent/publicist, does what is necessary to keep Allura in the limelight. Hunk is her ever present bodyguard and Pidge is her perfectionist stage manager. Coran is the president of Allura's record label.
1. Popstar Princess: A Moment in the Life

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters , settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **The idea for this series came to mind while hanging out in a Voltron group on Facebook. I thought, what would happen if the Voltron Force acted like pop stars, social media personalities, media moguls, etc. The main characters are based on the '84 Defender of the Universe series, with nods and references to the various incarnations of Voltron (V:3D, Voltron Force, Legendary Defender). As of right now, I only plan on one "season" (but I did say the same thing with Elevator Lance and we all know how that went). So please enjoy Popstar Princess.

**Popstar Princess:**

**A Moment in the Life**

The door opened and the roar of cheering fans, the clicking of paparazzi cameras and the yelling of questions from media personnel wafted into the spacious dressing room. Princess Allura of Arus, more popularly known as the "Popstar Princess" smiled, waved, and blew kisses to all those who adored her while her bodyguard ushered her into the room. Finally clear of the entranceway, the door closed and the room fell silent again.

"Seriously Hunk, do you have to be so rough. You almost left finger marks on my arm." Allura lifted her left arm to show her bodyguard.

Hunk barely paid any attention to his employer. With a shrug, the big and burly bodyguard walked off to a small table where various foods had been laid out.

With a huff Allura turned away and looked at her boyfriend who was stretched out on the couch. "And what were you doing while I was out there performing?"

Keith looked up from the tabloid he was reading. On the cover was a "where are they know" headline and his picture was one of those featured. "You mean while you were out there grinding against the other dancers," Keith shot back. "I was right here, like the loyal little boyfriend that your followers think I am."

"If only they knew the truth," Allura fired back. "I should have gotten an actual dog, at least it would be house broken," she muttered under her breath as she walked to a separate room to change.

There was a knock on the door. Hunk immediately dropped his food and rushed over. He turned the knob and just as soon as the door was opened far enough, Lance walked through, ducking under Hunk's thick forearm.

"Excuse me, big guy." Lance's hair was slicked back and looked greasy. He had hung up his trademarked brown jacket and blue jeans, choosing instead to garnish his rugged good looks with a dark blue business suit. With his new job as Allura's publicist and agent, he wanted to look his best.

Hunk just shook his head, closed the door and went back to his seat.

"Allura, great show tonight, Babe. The crowd loved you. You slayed them, you killed them, you made them laugh, you made them cry, you made them open their pocket books…"

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you Lance?" Keith asked.

"About as thick as your stomach's getting," Lance responded.

"I still have my six pack," Keith remarked.

"A six pack of Arusian Ale," Allura said as she emerged from the other room. She had changed out of her skin tone, glittery jumpsuit into a pair of tight pink yoga pants, a white belly shirt and a light pink wind breaker.

"Ah, there's my star," Lance said strutting over to Allura. "You were magnificent, as always."

"Were you able to watch the concert?" Allura asked.

"Well not really. I saw when you walked on stage and then I had an important phone call to answer, but for those first few moments you were fabulous."

"Oh…well, thank you." She responded.

"Speaking of phone calls, I've got some new gigs lined up for you."

"Oooh, where are they?" Allura asked as she began hopping up and down like an excited chicken. "Are they in Europe? Please tell me they are in Europe."

"Can you even find Europe on the globe?" Keith mumbled.

Allura started to respond to the remark but Lance brought her attention back to him. "Better…Wyoming."

"Wait, what?" Allura's excitement vanished, replaced with disbelief.

Over in the corner Hunk gave a noticeable chuckle.

"Just hear me out," Lance started. "First there are a bunch of national parks, including Yellowstone Park. Lots of tourists go to those parks every year and concerts at these parks would mean more business for them. In addition, performing at these parks makes you look good for the environmentally conscious crowd, since you're trying to bring awareness to preserving these lands. It's a win-win."

"I just don't know. I mean, there's nothing to do in Wyoming. It's so….rural."

"But there are plenty of scenic places to take selfies. Your followers would love that," Lance remarked.

"I guess you're right," Allura conceded.

"Of course I am. Now, why don't you go post something on social media before someone else starts trending more than you."

Allura grabbed her phone from her designer _Sincline_ handbag and plopped down in a big chair along one of the walls.

Suddenly the dressing room door burst open with such force that it swung back and closed itself. During the brief moment when the entrance to the room was unrestricted, the stage manager Pidge stormed through. Without acknowledging the stares from everyone else in the room, Pidge continued his tirade, directed at the person he was speaking to through his wireless headset.

"I don't care if the crowd didn't notice the explosions were out of sync by a few milliseconds, I noticed it. What if it had been a few more milliseconds slower, Allura would have been standing in the wrong place and the flash could have temporarily blinded her, causing her to momentarily lose her sight, stumble around, trip on a wire that your technicians failed to secure properly, lose her balance and fall. Do you have any idea what the repercussions of that would be? The least of which would be you losing your job. Perfection, that's what we strive for. If you can't give me perfection, I'll find someone who can." Pidge ripped the headset off and threw it across the room in the direction of Hunk.

Hunk barely looked up as he reached his hand out and caught the headset.

"I hate amateurs," Pidge huffed.

"Take it easy, Pidge." Lance slowly crept towards Pidge like he was approaching a wounded animal, with his hands held defensively in front of him. "The crowd loved the show and your direction was spectacular, just like always."

"Yeah well, if you increased my budget a bit I could hire people who actually knew what they were doing." His voice rose in volume as though he was trying to tell back into the distant headset.

"I'll talk to Coran and see what we can do." Lance hoped that would be enough to calm his pint sized friend.

Still frustrated Pidge walked over to the mini bar and fixed himself a drink then joined Hunk at the table.

As the energy in the room finally began to settle down, Lance's phone rang, breaking the brief silence with his favorite ringtone. "_Let's Voltron….let's Voltron...let's…_"

Lance excused himself to a distant corner of the room as he discussed business. A few minutes later Lance returned to the group, more excited than when he first came into the room.

"Great news Allura, World Events: San Diego wants you to do an appearance at their theme park."

"That's wonderful. When do I go?"

"In three days," Lance told her.

"I can't get a show together at World Events: San Diego in three days," Pidge yelled from across the room.

"It's not a full show. It's just a meet and greet. There is a group of kids who raised money for some charity; protect the forest, shave the monkeys, buy back the Beatles albums, something like that…anyway, they want Allura to show up, shake a few hands, give a few hugs, take a few pictures, that sort of thing."

"But Lance, you know I don't do well with kids. They're loud, they don't listen, they smell…"

Keith chuckled. "Sounds like you each morning."

"Keep it up and you can find someone else to be your sugar princess. Or worse, you'll have to try to rebuild your career."

"Kids, let's play nice," Lance interjected.

"Besides," Allura continued. "They get all touchy-feely. The last time I did one of these one kid grabbed my butt and another dropped his ice cream down my shirt."

"And that photo got a lot of likes and shares on social media. I'm going to go make sure the limo is ready to take you and Keith to the hotel. I'll see you outside in 5 minutes." Lance gave Allura and Keith a thumbs up and left the room.

"Quiznak," Allura said and she dropped her phone into her lap. "I'd fire that man if he wasn't so good at what he does."

"You mean whoring you out to every venue willing to pay the exuberant price that he decides is appropriate."

"That was a good one," Pidge commented from the table.

"At least people are still willing to pay to see me. When was the last time you were on stage? Oh wait, it was the Razzies for that horrible action movie you did a few years ago…"

"Nice come back," Hunk remarked.

Keith put his magazine down and stood up, straightening his shirt and brushing his pants legs with his hands. "I'm going to make a comeback and then I'll have my own fortune again and we won't have to keep up this charade any longer."

Allura stood, grabbing her phone and then her handbag. She walked over to Keith and slipped her arm through his. "Keep dreaming, dear."

Hunk got up from his seat and went to the door. Keith and Allura put on their best _in love_ attitude as Hunk opened the door and guided them out into the crowded hallway. The door closed leaving Pidge by himself.

"I should have taken that role in _Chess of Dictators,_" he said to himself.


	2. Popstar Princess: Not Quite the Happiest

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters , settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **This chapter was a bit tougher to write and I couldn't decide on how to do the children's event scene. Figured it would be better to do it as a news broadcast. On a side note, there are 4 little Easter eggs in this episode. See if you can recognize them.

**Popstar Princess:**

**Not Quite the Happiest Place on Earth**

"Hello everyone and welcome to today's episode of 'Good Morning Galra'. I'm Lafitte and beside me is my always elegant co-host, Merla."

The camera pans back to show Lafitte and Merla sitting on a light gray couch.

Merla smiles and thanks Lafitte for her introduction. "Today's top story, famous popstar Allura, visited World Events: San Diego yesterday for a children's charity event. The event, sponsored by the Live Your Dream organization, wasn't all smiles and rainbows for the bottle blonde singer."

"The trouble filled day started when the guest of honor failed to arrive on time," Lafitte stated. "Expecting to see the pink clad singer at the front gates, the bus load of eager young fans were disappointed to see that there was no one to greet them."

The camera switched to a close up of Merla as she continued the story. "Finally arriving a half an hour late, Allura and her entourage tried to enter the park but were stopped by security. Allura and her crew were then subjected to a thorough security scan before being allowed in."

The camera changed again, focusing on Lafitte. "After making her grand entrance, it seemed the group of kids were less than enthusiastic about being around the pretty popstar. Throughout the day it seemed Allura's focus was more on her camera guy getting the appropriate poses of her with the kids, the park's merchandise, and of course random attendees who recognized her."

The camera returned to a wide shot of Merla and Lafitte, neither trying to hide their glee at Allura's misfortune. "One young lady in the group had apparently grown tired of the popstar's antics. During a moment when Allura sat down at a picnic table to pose for a picture, the girl stood up behind Allura and dumped her milkshake onto the singer's head," Merla informed the audience.

"Allura then stood and slapped the cup out of the child's hand before storming off," Lafitte stated. "The child responded by extended her arm along with her middle finger. We have footage of the incident taken by a passerby. Watch this."

The image on the screen then changed to a shaky video showing Allura being dosed with milkshake, smacking the cup and storming off. The video blurred the child's middle finger and then faded out to show Merla and Lafitte once again.

"With their dream shattered, the children finished their day at the park and were transported home. As for Allura, the pop princess has yet to make a statement and has surprisingly remained silent on social media," Lafitte finished.

The image paused and the lights in the conference room turned on. Sitting around a large table was Allura, Lance, then Keith, on one side with Hunk and Allura's surrogate mother, Nanny on the opposite. At the head of the table, holding a small remote, was Coran, the owner of Altean Records. Everyone sat quietly.

Coran pushed a button on the remote and turned the display off. He turned to face the group and folded his hands on the table. "Can someone explain to me what the hell happened?" he said calmly.

Immediately everyone tried talking at once. After a moment Coran held his hand up and there was silence once again. "Nevermind. How it happened makes no difference. What does matter though, is how do we fix this problem?"

"Well sir," Keith chimed in. "We could say that Allura hadn't been feeling well and she was given some medicine which affected her judgement."

Coran just stared at Keith without saying a word.

Keith took the hint and slinked back into his chair.

"Those kids were nothing but brats. That little girl deserved to have her drink knocked away after what she did."

"Those kids didn't look like brats to me. It seemed more like you being a brat for not doing what you were being paid to do."

Lance placed is hand on Allura's arm before she could speak up. "Sir, what if we told the media that Allura was overwhelmed. We were given the impression that only one bus load of kids would be there but there was two. We could say that she was late because we were told to be there at a certain time and the kids arrived early. As for the cup incident, well that was just Allura defending herself."

"So what you're saying, is that we turn this around and make it look like the fault is on the organizers of the event?" Coran asked.

"Precisely," Lance answer.

There was a moment of silence from Coran as he thought it through. "Make it happen. We need to clean this up as quickly as possible."

"Of course," Lance responded. "And we'll make some light accusations of the media starting a smear campaign on Allura."

"Good." Coran said. "As for you, Allura. If you keep causes incidences like this, I may have to consider dropping you from our label."

Allura's eyes widened. "What! You can't do that, I'm this label's biggest star."

"I can do that and I will do that. You're a popstar, popstars are a dime a dozen. I could easily replace you with someone less troublesome. I hear Romelle's recent album is doing quite well." Coran watched Allura's body language carefully to see if she would fall for his goading.

"Romelle!" Allura bolted upright in her chair. "She's a hack, a nobody, a copycat trying to mooch off my success. I'll be damned if I'll let you replace me with that wannabe"

Coran leaned back, satisfied. "Well then, maybe you'll watch your behavior from now on."

The door to the conference room opened and Coran's assistant stepped in. "Sorry to interrupt sir but your 4 o'clock is here."

"Thank you, Ginger." Coran stood and motioned for everyone to do the same. "Lance, you take care of the public relations mess this has become. Allura, take my words seriously. I'm trying to run a business and your problems cause me problems and that's not good for business. Now, everyone out."

Quietly, everyone left the room. Not a word was said by anyone until they were out of the office and at the end of the hall, waiting for the elevator. The door chimed and a little white poodle exited the elevator. Everyone watched as the poodle ran down the hall and then stopped at the door to Coran's office. Ginger welcomed the dog inside as Allura and the others entered the elevator car. Lance was the last one in. He pushed the button for the first floor and then noticed a strange odor in the elevator. As the doors closed Lance looked down and realized he had stepped in a pile of dog poo.


	3. Popstar Princess: Talks Shows and Media

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters , settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **For those who couldn't figure out the little Easter eggs in the previous chapter, I have listed them below.

#1) Lafitte and Merla were both voiced by Tress MacNeille. Queen Merla appeared in Voltron: Defender of the Universe season 2 and Lafitte appeared in Voltron: The Third Dimension.

#2) Coran's assistant Ginger is a member of the Vehicle Voltron team.

#3 & #4) The poodle and the elevator are throwbacks to my previous series, The Adventures of Elevator Lance.

**Popstar Princess:**

**Talks shows and Mass Media**

Allura and Lance were standing behind the stage curtain at the Late Show with Katie Holt. Lance barely paid attention to the host's monologue and kept his focus on Allura.

"Lance, what am I doing here?" Allura whined.

"You're here in order to explain your behavior at the children's charity event."

"But couldn't I just make a post on Flutter or something and be done with it?"

"No," Lance explained. "You need to do this in person so everyone believes it is genuine." He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her towards the curtain. "Now remember, make it seem like it was the organization's fault. You were just a victim in this whole thing."

Katie had finished her monologue and had taken her place behind the desk. "Help me welcome my first guest. She's currently the third most successful popstar in the world, she's a social media sensation, and right now has the number one viral video in country. Please give a round of applause to Allura!"

The studio audience clapped and cheered as Allura emerged from the curtain. Her short, strapless pink dress shimmered in the stage lights. She enthusiastically waved to the audience and blew kisses to the cameras. She made her way over to the host's desk and gave Katie a hug then sat down.

Lance walked over to a monitor that was backstage so that he could watch the show. His phone rang and saw Coran's number on the screen. "Yes sir?" he asked as he answered. "She just went on stage now. Yes sir, I instructed her on playing up the victim angle. I assure you sir, this whole situation will be behind us by tomorrow morning. Of course, have a good night sir."

Lance hung up the phone and focused his attention on the monitor. Sweat was already starting to bead on his forehead. "Please don't screw this up," he softly prayed.

"Thank you for being here," Katie said.

"Thank you for having me."

"It is my understanding that you don't do many talk shows," Katie remarked.

"That's true," Allura replied.

"Why is that?"

"To help keep my agent's stress levels down," Allura answered.

Katie chuckled a bit, thinking that Allura was making a joke but she straightened up once she realized Allura was being serious. "How does not doing a talk show lower your agent's stress levels?"

"Because I don't do well without a script. I tend to ramble on and on and about inconsequential things, or I'll say something that I'm not supposed to, or tell an embarrassing story and then my agent has to deal with the fallout later."

"What kind of embarrassing story could you have that would upset your agent?" Katie asked, dangling a bit of metaphorical bait in front of Allura.

Allura pondered for a moment and then suddenly her eyes went wide with excitement. "So this one time at a corporate event for the record label that I'm on, we had big tent set up in this huge field, tables set up as a buffet, and there were all these execs and celebrities, everyone was having a great time. I ended up indulging in some of the more…comfort foods; fries, hot dogs, you know, that sort of stuff."

Backstage, Lance continued to stare at the monitor, a look of horror on his face.

"So I'm sitting there, enjoying my food while all the various execs get up and do their corporate speeches, yadda yadda, and suddenly I felt my stomach churn. I let out a little burp and didn't think about it. Well, when everyone was done, I had to get up and sing. I'm in the middle of my first song, dancing about and belting out the lyrics then I do this one move where I turn away from the audience and bend forward. Well, when I did that, I let out this huge fart…"

The audience suddenly burst into laughter. Katie, who had been taking a drink of water, suddenly spat it out all over her desk.

"Keep in mind, the mic was still in the stand so my fart went right into the mic and was blasted through the speakers."

Lance could do nothing but hang his head as Allura told her story.

"How did you recover from that?" Katie asked.

"Well, I turned around, grabbed the mic and I said, 'my compliments to the caterers'."

The audience continued to laugh and clap as Allura smiled.

"Speaking of events, you had some trouble during a recent charity event. In fact, the video clip from that incident is the top viral video in the country right now. Do you want to make any sort of comment regarding that?"

"That whole situation has been misinterpreted from the beginning," Allura stated.

"Looking at the video, how could it be misinterpreted?"

"For starters, it was reported that I was late to the event. In fact, I was on time. The organizers got the kids there early. And you know kids, they get there expecting to see me and I'm not there, not realizing they were early, the kids were understandably upset."

"So the kids were there before they were supposed to be and you were arrived at the time you were supposed to, correct?" Katie inquired.

"That's right. Well, this put the kids in a bad mood the entire day. I'm trying to do the fan photos, and go on the rides and trying to have a good time but many of the kids just wanted to act like brats."

"Oh no, she didn't just call them brats," Lance whispered.

"Brats, you say?" Katie asked.

"Of course, what can you expect from a generation who grew up with the world in the palm of their hands? They get everything they want right then and there and if they don't get cut a fit. Like the little girl who dumped her milkshake on me…she did that because I told her to wait her turn for a picture. I mean, who raises their child to behave like that?"

"So it sounds to me like you were more of a victim than an instigator," Katie remarked.

"Absolutely. My hair, my dress, my entire day was ruined because of those kids. And the chaperones didn't even apologize."

Lance stepped away from the monitors and walked over to small table. He took a deep breath then bent over, banging his head repeatedly against the wooden tabletop.

"Well thank you so much for joining us tonight, Allura."

"It was my pleasure, Katie."

Katie shook Allura's hand then turned back towards the audience. "We're going to a commercial and when we come back, veteran voice actor Neill Ross will be joining us. So stick around."

The stage lights dimmed slightly as the commercial was broadcast. Allura stood, said goodbye to Katie once more and left the stage.

"What a dimwit," Katie said softly to herself as Allura left.

Allura found Lance backstage, his head still resting on the table.

"So how did I do?" she asked, fully expecting praise.

Lance straightened up, looked at her and just sighed. "You did just fine."

Allura's eyes got big as she stared at Lance's forehead. I giant red whelp had formed and she couldn't turn away.

"What's the matter?" Lance asked her.

"Oh…nothing."

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"I'm not staring." There was a short pause as Allura tilted her head to look at the whelp from a slightly different angle. "We should probably get going."

"That's the brightest thing you have said all night." Lance and Allura made their way back down to the streets below where their limo was waiting to take them back to the hotel.


	4. Popstar Princess: Stop Clubbing Popstars

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters , settings, etc. involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **This chapter took a bit longer to write due to a severe case of writer's block. In the weeks leading up to this chapter, my entire household had been hit with varying degrees of sickness; an ear infection, the flu, Strep throat and it took some time for me to get my brain back into the creative mode needed to write these stories.

As I wrote this chapter I came to the realization that this story, which was meant to be a goofy comedy, has evolved into more of a social satire highlighting the life of celebrities that we see through news articles and social media. In a way, the organic fluidity of this story seems to mimic the organic fluidity of life. Well, that should be enough thought-provocation for one chapter, so without further ado, here is the next chapter of Popstar Princess.

**Popstar Princess:**

**Stop Clubbing Popstars**

The black, stretched limousine cruised through the evening streets of Los Angeles. The lights of the city were so bright that they blocked out the twinkling stars of the night sky. In the back of the limo Allura was adjusting her salmon colored dress. The designer outfit had one shoulder strap, a hip high slit cut along the outside of both of her legs and was cut so low that Allura was one pot hole away from her chest popping out.

Keith was sitting beside her, his gaze focused more on his phone than his pretend girlfriend. His red dress shirt contrasted nicely to the black blazer and trousers he was wearing, the top 3 buttons were unfastened in order to show off his smooth, hair-less chest.

Seated across from them was Lance and Hunk. The burly body guard sat in silence, staring out the tinted window, pondering the choices that he had made in life that led him to his current job.

Lance, in contrast to everyone else, wouldn't stop talking. "Now Allura, Conner East is throwing this party to celebrate the success of his latest business investment, so you would be wise to be as friendly as possible with him and hopefully we'll be able to get him to invest some money into our company."

"Allura and wise are two words that should never be put in the same sentence," remarked Keith as he shared yet another meme.

"Just like the words 'Keith' and 'movie star'?" Allura mocked. Allura turned her attention back to Lance. "You want his money, I'll get you his money."

"Allura taking a man's money, that won't be much of a challenge for her," Keith commented.

"It'll certainly be easier than faking my interest in you," Allura responded.

"Now kids, let's play nice. There will be a lot of celebrities, musicians and paparazzi at this party and we want to make a memorable impression here."

"Whatever," Allura said as she immediately broke into a coughing fit.

"Are you ok?" Lance asked with great concern.

"I'm fine," she said again as she coughed a little more. "It's probably just an allergy thing or something tickling my throat." Allura immediately turned to Keith and pointed her finger at him. "Don't you say a single, damn word."

Keith feigned a look of surprise and just smiled.

A few moments later the limo pulled up to huge mansion. Loud party music could be heard emanating from the expensive dwelling, party guests were mingling in the yard, on the balcony, and next to the pool. A valet walked up to Allura's door and opened it. As she emerged from the vehicle, a sea of camera flashes bathed over her as paparazzi tried to capture flattering and unflattering photos of the popstar.

Keith exited the limo a few seconds later followed by Lance and Hunk. Allura posed as the worked their way towards the front door, Keith tried to entice the photographers to take his photo but few were interested. Lance was handing out business cards to each and every photographer and reporter who were loitering in front of the house and Hunk did his best to make sure no one got too close to his employer.

The group entered the large foyer, which was filled with movie studio executives, music producers, advertising executives, modeling agents and the various talents that brings in the money for those companies.

"Ok everyone, let's go mingle and try to make some business connections," Lance stated. "Allura, find Connor and try to capture his attention."

"Easier done than said," Allura bragged.

"That's the caption under her senior year book photo," Keith remarked quietly to himself.

"Just try not to get too drunk this time," Allura whisper softly to him. "The last thing I need is for your alcoholic ass to embarrass me tonight."

Allura walked away from the group, her mind set on her mission of sweet talking Connor East. Hunk followed, staying far enough behind so that he didn't interfere with Allura's mingling but still doing his job of protecting her.

Lance noticed some rather attractive movie stars entering an adjacent room and took off after them. Keith, now abandoned by his companions, headed off towards the rear of the mansion. He walked out the large patio doors and took in the sight of the large pool with a Jacuzzi at one end. Guests were scattered throughout, making business deals or gossiping about other guests. Keith made his way over to the bard and asked the bartender for a Black Lion. He sat down on the stool, taking his drink in hand and losing himself in the alcohol.

Allura weaved her way through the mansion, going from one crowd filled room to the next until she finally eyed her target. Standing among a small group of enablers, was Connor East. A tall, handsome man of African descent, his white shirt accenting his light brown skin. His hair was cut short and neat, and his black slacks were cleanly creased and his light blue neck tie was perfectly straight. Allura took a moment to primp herself; running her hands through her hair, straightening her dress and adjusting her breasts so that they were more pronounced.

With an air of confidence, Allura strolled up to the small crowd and pushed her way to Connor.

"Mr. East, it is such a pleasure to meet you. My name is…"

"Allura, the princess of the stage," Connor said with a smile. "The pleasure of this meeting is certainly all mine," he remarked as he took Allura's hand and kissed it. His baritone voice was as smooth velvet and his eyes practically sparkled.

"So you have heard of me?" Allura asked.

"I've been following your career very closely as of late. You're an amazing entertainer, you have a way of mesmerizing your audience when you perform on stage."

"Well, I'm even more mesmerizing when I perform off the stage," Allura responded with a sly smile.

"Almost all of Los Angeles can attest to that," came a young female voice from behind Allura.

She turned to see who said that and her blood began to boil in her veins. "Well, if it isn't Romelle, the slut of San Fernando."

"Now now," said Romelle as she approached Allura and Connor. "Such language from such a distinguished performer."

"Distinguished? Are you daring to make a joke about my age?"

"Oh come now, I would never say anything to insult you like that. I was raised to respect my elders." An evil grin crossed the 21 year old's face.

"Elder? I'm only 26, you little pop tart."

"Exactly. You're old…too old to be flaunting that out of shape body of yours on stage, and certainly too old to be throwing yourself towards a man as refined as Mr. East." She looked over at Connor and gave him an innocent smile.

Allura was about to punch Romelle when Connor interrupted the exchange. "I personally invited Romelle to tonight's party, as she has agreed to be the lead spokesperson for my new clothing company's product line."

"She's going to be your spokesperson?" Allura asked shocked.

"Of course. Connor here needed someone who was more in touch with today's younger audience," Romelle taunted as she took Connor's arm.

Before Allura could rebuttal, one of Connor's assistants approached and informed it was time to address his guests. With a brief exchange of words with those around him, Connor headed towards the foyer with Romelle still on his arm.

Allura, feeling angry and defeated, stormed off to find Lance.

Keith was still sitting on his stool, his drink only half empty when he felt someone sit down beside him. He looked over and there was a tall, handsome man dressed in a white tuxedo. His black hair has a streak of white in the front and from his mannerisms, Keith knew this man was someone important.

"How are you tonight," the man asked.

"Just fine, thanks for asking." Keith answered grudgingly.

"You don't sound fine, nor do you look it. I can tell something is on your mind, I'd like to hear about it."

"Who are you, Dr. Phil?"

"No," the man chuckled. "My name is Takashi Shirogane, but everyone just calls me Shiro."

The realization of who this man was hit Keith like a semi-truck. "Wait, Shirogane, the successful film producer?"

"The one in the same," Shiro responded as the bartender handed him his drink. "And you're Keith Kogane, former member of the boy band Defenders of the Universe."

"You know who I am?" Keith asked stunned.

"You seem surprised that I do."

"Ever since I met Allura, no one remembers me as anyone except as her arm candy." Keith looked off into the distance as he took a sip of drink. "Well, that and the really bad movie that I was that totally sank any chance at a movie career."

"Ah yes, The Robeast of Taujeer, not exactly an Academy Award nominee," remarked Shiro.

"Thanks," Keith replied solemnly.

"How would you like a chance to make up for that mistake?"

"What do you mean?" Keith eyed Shiro curiously.

Shiro turned sideways to face Keith directly. He leaned in so that Keith could hear him and no one else couldn't. "You have the look of a movie star. A little rough around the edges, but edges can be smoothed out. With a little coaching, strong support and the right movie, you could step out of Allura's shadow and stand in your own light."

"What do I need to do?" Keith asked, completely mesmerized by Shiro's offer.

Shiro handed Keith his business card. "Call my office on Monday and we'll set up a meeting." With that, Shiro took one last swig of his drink and left Keith to ponder his offer.

Lance was trying his best to calm Allura down. She had found him in one of the spare bedrooms and her sudden interruption caused the two young models he was entertaining to gather up their clothes and leave. Now, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his clothes a mess from having to hastily put them on, as he listened to Allura rant and rave about Romelle.

"That slut! Harlot! Tramp!" Allura was pacing, her face flushed and her hands clenched.

"Allura, calm down. Shouting about it isn't going to help."

"But she had the nerve to call me old," Allura yelled. "She's more in touch with the younger audience," Allura said mocking Romelle. "More like you're just helping Connor touch the younger audience."

"Allura! Don't say things like that." Lance got up off the bed in a panic. He took Allura by the shoulders and tried to talk her down. "Listen, you have to be careful about what you say and do. Connor is a very power man and can easily influence your career, if he wants to."

"I'm sorry." Allura took a deep breath. "You're right, yelling about it won't help."

"You should listen to me more often," Lance said as he let go of Allura.

"Action is what is needed to resolve this." Allura immediately turned and stormed out of the room.

"Oh shit," Lance said as he chased after Allura.

Keith had re-entered the house with the intent of telling Allura about his meeting with Shiro but as he did so, he was distracted by a commotion in the foyer. He entered the crowded room just in time to see Allura shove Romelle away from Conner East.

"What's your problem, you old crow?" yelled Romelle as she charged forward and shoved Allura in retaliation.

"My problem is with you coming in here and trying to put me out of a job."

"Well maybe if you were actually talented you wouldn't have to worry about losing your job," Romelle shot back.

Before anyone could blink, Allura's hand flung through the air and struck Romelle across her face.

Everyone stood back, too stunned to move. Keith couldn't believe what he had just seen; Lance's mind was already trying to spin the story to prevent tomorrow's PR nightmare; Hunk just stood off to the side in hopes that Romelle would be the one to finally put Allura in her place.

Romelle was the most shocked but that quickly turned to anger and she swung her hand, connecting with Allura's cheek. The two popstars just stood staring at each other for several seconds; no one in the room dared to breathe. Then in an instant, both lunged at each other, collapsing onto the floor. They scratched at each other, they kicked at each other, pulling hair and ripping clothes. Obscenities were flying out of their mouths as fast as the bobby pins flying out of their hair.

Connor sighed at his guests who were making spectacles of themselves on his floor. He motioned towards one of his security guards and a 4 large men suddenly appeared. With almost no effort they were able to pull the young women apart and proceeded to carry them outside. Allura and Romelle, meanwhile were still trying to hit each other, despite the large muscled arms holding them.

Lance, Hunk, and Keith rushed after them. Outside the security guards kept the entertainers apart as best they could. The paparazzi, who had grown bored waiting for something to happen, jumped into action upon seeing Allura and Romelle carried out of the mansion and had now surrounded the group and were taking photos as quickly as they could.

Connor East had joined the group outside and now stood between Allura and Romelle. "I had hoped for an evening of celebration but instead I got an evening of spectacle and embarrassment."

"I'm terribly sorry for my client ruining your celebration," Lance responded.

Connor held his hand up and Lance stopped talking. "It is not your fault, Mr. McCain. You are not responsible for the actions of your client." Connor turned his focus to Allura. "Ms. Allura, I admire you very much as an entertainer, but as a human being you leave much to be desired. I hope for your sake, you are able to find yourself before this industry turns your heart as black as the night sky."

Allura paused at his words. Her anger seemed to almost melt away at the sound of his voice. She felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. Was it embarrassment, guilt, or maybe even shame? She opened her mouth with the intent of apologizing but that feeling in her stomach rose, rushing to the surface and before she knew what she was doing, vomit projected itself from her body and landed squarely on Connor East.

As the limo door closed on Allura, she looked out the window at Romelle smiling and waving in a taunting manner. Allura rolled down the window, stuck her hand out and gave Romelle the middle finger.

"I hope you're happy," Lance said to Allura. "Not only did that cost us any chance of ever working with Connor East, but the news of the fight between you and Romelle is probably already on social media. This is going to be a disaster."

"I can't believe you hit her," Keith commented.

"The bitch deserved it," Allura snapped as she wiped some vomit residue from the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "And where were you the whole time?"

"I was at the bar," Keith answered.

"Talking to some slut in a skimpy outfit, no doubt," Allura remarked.

Keith thought of responding but decided it was best not to. He had his hand by his side, his fingers wrapped around the card Shiro gave him.

The ride home was silent. Allura fumed over Romelle and was desperately trying not to throw up again. Lance checked all the usual social media sites in order to monitor the news about Allura's behavior at the party. His mind raced with ways on how to respond, though none seemed like good ideas. Keith thought about Shiro's offer. Pondering whether or not it was a good idea to follow through and blaze his own path in this world of entertainment; to stop being Allura's arm candy and be his own person.


	5. Popstar Princess: Rising Tensions

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **After the previous chapter, I decided to cut this one a little shorter. Life for Allura and her entourage is becoming a bit hectic and the course of their lives will soon be taking a turn. Will that be for better or for worse?

**Popstar Princess:**

**Rising Tensions**

"Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. It is a gorgeous Wednesday morning here at the 'Good Morning Galra' studio. I'm Lafitte and next to me is the beautiful, Merla."

Merla looked over at Lafitte with a smile. "Good morning, Lafitte. It's been four days since the now famous vomit incident starring everyone's favorite popstar train wreck, Allura."

"For those who may have been living under a rock these last few days, this past weekend Allura attended a party hosted by Connor East." Lafitte stated. "During an announcement regarding a new business venture the millionaire was unveiling; Allura decided to release her green eyed monster and assaulted her younger rival, Romelle."

"Mr. East's security members were forced to carry Romelle and Allura outside. Mr. East was in the middle of trying to defuse the situation when Allura became ill and threw up on him," Merla concluded the recap. "Social media users are already calling the incident, 'Vomitgate' and calling Allura names such as 'Vomit Rocket' and 'Princess Puke'."

"A source close to Allura's inner circle is claiming that the singer was suffering from morning sickness and that her agent has been trying to keep a lid on her being pregnant."

The large tv screen flicked off and Hunk and Pidge just sat in silence amid the large, open den of Allura's mansion.

"Lance is going to be pissed," Pidge said.

"He'll probably think it was one of us who made that claim about Allura," Hunk stated.

"Well, it wasn't me," Pidge claimed.

"Don't look at me," Hunk responded. "I never tell anyone anything."

"So how long until you think Lance will walk through the front door?" Pidge asked.

Hunk glanced at his watch. "I give him an hour."

As the hour passed, Hunk and Pidge had moved into the dining room. Allura's kitchen staff had prepared a large and delicious breakfast. As the two finished, Allura appeared dressed in pink satin shorts and nightgown, her blue slippers, and a dark blue robe, which was tied loosely. Her hair was in shambles and she looked pale.

"Wow, Allura. You look rough," said Pidge.

"Let's see how good you look when you spend all night throwing up," Allura snapped.

Allura shuffled to the table and sat down across from her two friends. One of her maids emerged from the kitchen and approached the table. Without instructions she poured her boss a cup of coffee then returned to the kitchen. Just as Allura began to sip her drink, the front door burst open.

"Allura!" Lance yelled from the foyer.

Hunk looked at his watch. "Almost one hour exactly."

Pidge silently pulled a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to Hunk.

"She's in here," Hunk yelled back and he put the money in his wallet.

Allura winced at the sound of Hunk's, loud deep voice.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Lance asked as he entered the room.

"It's called breakfast," Allura answered flatly. "And it's very unappealing right now."

"I'm not talking about that!" Lance took his phone and slid it in front of Allura. "I'm talking about this!"

Allura glanced at the screen, which showed a social media feed where fans were reacting to the recent rumor of Allura's condition.

"Pregnant! Who the hell told them I was pregnant?" Allura looked at Hunk and Pidge. "Was it you two?"

"It wasn't us," Pidge said in defense.

"I don't talk to anyone," Hunk answered. "I just get paid to keep everyone away from you."

Lance sat down next to Allura and locked eyes with her. "Tell me the truth, are you pregnant?"

"NO! A woman has to have sex to get pregnant and I haven't had any in six months."

"That explains a lot," Pidge whispered to Hunk.

"Watch it, Shorty," Allura shot back. She turned her attention back to Lance. "My work schedule, which you arrange, along with that useless meat bag of a pretend boyfriend, pretty much guarantees no 'play time' for me. My vagina is as empty as Hunk's head."

Hunk's facial expression hinted at his displeasure of being insulted by his employer but he knew better than to say anything.

"That's not really an image that I needed right now," Lance said as he took his phone back. "We need to do something about this and quickly."

"Why don't we just tell them the truth," Allura suggested.

"And what exactly is the truth?"

"That I'm sick with the flu," Allura told him.

Within seconds Lance, Pidge and Hunk all stood and moved to chairs at the other end of the table.

"Assholes," Allura muttered.

"Just telling everyone that you have the flu isn't going to be enough," Lance remarked.

"Well what else can she do?" asked Pidge.

Lance thought for a moment. "Here is what you're going to do. Go upstairs and put on your skimpiest bra and panties, something that shows off your stomach. Put some make up on and maybe run a rake through your hair. Take a selfie and post it on your social media and make sure everyone can see how flat your stomach is."

"Now hold on a second," Allura interrupted. "You have a lot of nerve to ask me to do that. Your idea is extremely sexist and demeaning."

"Excuse me?" Lance asked surprised. "Almost every week you're posting selfies in your underwear."

"Yeah and you don't wear much more than that when you're on stage," Pidge piped in.

"Yes but that is my choice. I do that for me, not because a man asked me to," Allura clarified.

"Well, I'm not just 'a man'," Lance clarified. "I'm your agent and your publicist. I'm the guy you pay to keep your job schedule filled and to clean up the public relations messes that you make. So if you want to keep working and keep living this exuberant life style, you will do as say." Lance stood, his patience almost at its end. "Now, get upstairs, make yourself presentable and show your followers and fans that you're healthy and not pregnant."

Allura put her coffee down and glared at Lance. Reluctantly, she stood and left the room, calling for her staff to help her get ready.

With a heavy sigh, Lance sat back down. "She's getting to be too much to handle."

"What are you going to do about it?" Hunk asked.

"I don't know yet. Right now though, I'd like to find out who told the press that she was pregnant."

"Maybe it was Keith," Pidge suggested.

"Perhaps. Wouldn't hurt to ask. By the way, where is he?"

"I passed him on my way in this morning. He said he had an important meeting to go to," Pidge said.

"Interesting." Lance remarked.

Keith pulled up in front of a large, white mansion on the outer edge of the city. The lawn was bright green and meticulously tended to. The mountains in the distance behind the house gave the entire area a majestic view.

"This is crazy," he said to himself. "There is no way this guy is going to give me an acting job."

Keith sat in his car for many minutes, working up the courage to get out. "I'm just a has-been singer who was in one bad movie. I'm not trained to act, even though I've spent years acting as a loyal boyfriend for Allura." Keith looked at the front door, staring at is as though he was expecting some kind of epiphany to coalesce before him.

"But this could be your one last chance," he told himself. "Otherwise, it's back to being the arm candy." With a deep breath Keith managed to open the door and step out of the vehicle. Each step he took towards the door felt heavy, as though he was walking through ankle deep mud. His nerves were taught and sweat was starting to bead under his arms. His finger reached out and pressed the doorbell before he could turn and run. All he could do now was wait.

In a matter of seconds the door opened and before him stood a tall man with brown hair and glasses. He wore in a finely pressed gray suit and a warm, welcoming smile. "You must be Keith, please, come in."

"Thank you," Keith struggled to say as he stepped over the threshold.

The door closed and the man spoke again. "I'm Adam. Will you please follow me."

Keith walked in close step to the gentleman. "Are you Shiro's assistant?"

Adam chuckled. "No, I'm not his assistant. I'm his spouse."

"I didn't realize Shiro was married."

"Five wonderful years," Adam said as he guided Keith to the living room. "Please, have a seat," he said gesturing to couch.

"Thank you." Keith was happy to sit down as he wasn't sure his legs would be able to continue to hold his weight.

Adam took a seat in a lounge chair across from Keith. "Shiro has been looking forward to this meeting."

"He has?"

"Oh yes. He believes you can be a great star, you just need to be given your chance to shine."

Adam's words took some of the edge off of Keith. He felt himself start to relax. Keith knew Adam was still talking but his attention was more focused on the luxurious living room. Priceless paintings, handcrafted wood furniture, and rare antiques made up the décor.

"Well that's enough from me," Adam said as he stood up. "I'll go see if Shiro is ready."

Keith watched Adam leave and his nervousness quickly returned. "This is it," Keith said to himself. "Don't screw this up."


	6. Popstar Princess: Choices

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **This chapter took a little longer to write because I wanted to make sure that I conveyed the emotions of the characters in just the right way. I would consider this chapter to be the major turning point in the story. The decisions and behaviors will drastically alter the rest of the story and so I didn't want to rush through it. I hope you all like it.

**Popstar Princess:**

**Choices and Consequences**

Keith had been waiting for ten minutes when he heard footsteps coming down a flight of stairs. He turned his head in time to see Takashi Shirogane enter the room. The gentleman was wearing a gray three piece suit with a black neck tie and he was carrying a manila folder in his left hand. As he approached the couch, Shiro stuck his right hand out. Keith immediately stood and shook his hand.

"Good morning, Keith. I'm very happy that you decided to meet with me."

"Thank you for inviting me, Mr. Shirogane."

"Please, call me Shiro," he said with a warm smile. "Have a seat and let's talk."

The two men sat down, Keith reclaiming his place on the couch and Shiro sitting in a chair across from him.

"Now Keith, I want to ask you a question and I want you to answer me honestly. Are you happy?"

The question caught Keith completely off guard. "Excuse me?"

"Are you happy with where you are in life?"

"I…don't really understand. What does my happiness have to do with being in a movie?"

"It's simple, if you're happy with the way your life is, then there is nothing I can offer you."

Keith didn't know what to say. He just continued to look at Shiro, his mouth and brain struggling to function.

Shiro noticed the conflict going on inside Keith. He had seen it in so many others and knew that all Keith needed was a little guidance. "Let's take a quick look at your career and maybe that will bring you some enlightenment."

Shiro placed the folder on the coffee table that separated him and Keith and opened it up. Keith tried to see what was in the folder but was finding it difficult to read the upside-down papers.

Shiro leaned down and read from the top sheet. "At age 15 you were the lead singer for a small garage band, playing school functions and other local events. You were discovered by a talent agent and at 16 you were the lead singer of the popular boy band, The Lion Knights. Two years later the band breaks up and you set out on a solo career. At 19, you traveled the world on your Black Lion Tour which featured various guest artists and shattered ticket and merchandise sales. During one show, you featured a 17 year old, up and coming pop singer named Allura. The following year the two of you toured several cities together, you joined Altean Records and Lance McClain became your publicist. Shortly after that you announced to the public that you were in a relationship with Allura. The year after that, you announced your farewell tour."

Keith sat quietly and listened as Shiro spoke; feelings of disappointment and sadness filled him.

"You end your music career at the age of 21 so you could try your hand at making movies. Mr. McClain manages to get you a starring role but the movie fails at the box office. With dismal reviews from critics and even worse reviews from those who paid to see the film, your movie career ends and you are relegated to Allura's boyfriend; her arm candy as her career soars to incredible heights. And now, you spend your days in her shadow, being paid to be seen when cameras are flashing but otherwise you just hang out in the background." Shiro raised his eyes off the paper and trained them on Keith. "Does all of that sound about right?"

"That was…remarkably accurate," Keith said, a feeling of defeat overwhelming him.

"Adam is very thorough in his research," Shiro said proudly. Shiro lifted his head and gave Keith his full attention. "You had a very promising music career and you gave it up. You had potential to be a big movie star but were given a project that was doomed to fail from the beginning. You had millions of fans who clambered to even get near you and now they mock you on social media."

Keith felt like the lowest life form in existence. Having his career retold to him and seeing how he gave up on all his dreams made him feel like a chump.

"So I ask you again. Are you happy?"

Keith stared into Shiro's eyes. For a moment, he felt something he hadn't in a long time. A feeling of strength. "No, Shiro. I'm not happy. My career was used as a pedestal to raise Allura's career. I've had every opportunity to step forward taken away from me. I've spent the last few years pretending to be in love with someone just for the sake of appearances and I've been shown no appreciation for it. I've lost all respect for myself and I regret many of the choices that I have made."

Keith felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Even with this new, self-realization, he still couldn't understand Shiro's interest in him. "I still don't understand why you are interested in me?"

"Like I said, I see potential in you. Where most agents and publicists look at the here and now, focusing on the newest one-hit wonder who can provide the social media presence to bring in the dollars, I prefer to invest my time and energy in the long game. I like to build someone's career so that they have success after success after success." Shiro closed the folder and leaned in towards Keith. "I feel that with the right guidance and support, we can build a movie career that will for last decades. I'm talking franchises, merchandise, and most importantly multiple generations of fans."

Keith stared at Shiro in wonderment. The idea of people wanting to be near him again because of who he was, not whom he was with, brought a warmth to his soul.

"Think about it Keith, a movie career that will last the rest of your life. No longer having to put your life on hold. All those people coming to the theater to see you." Shiro made sure to put an emphasis on that last word.

Keith listened intently and the more he heard, the more he wanted it. "What would you need from me?" asked Keith.

"Commitment. You had it once when you were a teenager, devoting your time to a band that played at city fairs and retirement parties; when you were working towards something that you enjoyed and were passionate about. I need that from you. That passion to make something that everyone can enjoy." Shiro paused to let his words sink into the Keith's mind. "So what do you say? Are you interested?"

"Of course I'm interested," Keith answered.

"But?" asked Shiro.

"It's a big change from what I have now."

"But a change for the better," Shiro assured him. "Going out on your solo career was a big change and look how successful you were with that. I believe in you and I know you'll be successful with this."

"It's also a huge risk. What if I fail again? What if we make this big deal of me becoming an actor and the movie bombs again. I'll be a laughing stock. I'll lose my contract with Altean Records, no agent will want to work with me, Allura won't want to work with me, I'll be ruined."

"Keith," Shiro said in a soothing voice. He placed his hand on Keith's shoulder and locked eyes with him. "You're letting your worries and anxieties take over. I wouldn't be taking the time to meet with you and offer you this opportunity if I didn't think you would succeed." Shiro pulled his hand away and sat back in his chair. "Lance and Allura don't want you to succeed. They needed you to fail in order for Allura's career to take center stage. Here is a chance for you to take back what they stole from you."

Silence fell between the two men. After a few moments, Keith looked up at Shiro, the doubt still lingering. "Could I take a day or two to think about this?"

"Of course, but don't take too long. In this industry, life moves pretty fast and if you don't jump on the opportunity when you can, you'll miss it."

"Thank you," Keith said as he stood up.

Shiro stood, shook Keith's hand and escorted him to the door. As the door closed Adam came into the room.

"Do you think he'll take your offer?" Adam asked.

"I hope so. I hate to see such talent wasted."

Adam walked up to Shiro and put his arm around his waist. "Have faith that he'll make the right decision."

Lance had spent an hour and a half on the phone with Coran discussing what steps to take to do damage control over the unfounded rumor of Allura's pregnancy. It had spread like a pandemic through the media and fans everywhere were fiercely debating the ramifications of a baby for the popstar. Pidge remarked to Hunk that they could tell where Lance had been pacing due to the carpet being flattened. Just as Lance was finishing up the call, Allura came downstairs wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.

"Before I post this, do you want to take a look at it?" Allura handed Lance her phone.

Lance took the phone and looked at the image of Allura standing in front of her mirror in a pair of lacy pink panties and an almost sheer pink bra. The image clearly showed her flat, toned abs.

"Perfect, now we just need to come up with some wording to go along with it," Lance remarked.

"Hmmm…what about, 'pretty in pink'?" she asked.

"Too eighties," Lance replied.

As Allura was about to suggest something else, the front door opened and in walked Keith. He called for Allura and everyone responded that they were in the den.

Keith made his way into the room and saw that Lance was here. "Allura, Lance, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Are you about to confess?" Allura spat out at him.

"Confess to what?" Keith asked confused.

Allura took her phone from Lance and showed Keith one of the news headlines. "That you told everyone that I'm pregnant!"

"Wait, you think I did that?"

"Of course," Allura responded.

"Why would I do something like that?" Keith asked.

"For money, or attention…some lame attempt to seem special," Allura stated.

"How can you feel like I would be the one to come up with a rumor like this?" Keith asked her.

Allura thought for a moment. "You're right, you don't have the brains to come up with a scheme like this. How could I think a loser like you would be able to get everyone to think I was pregnant."

"Wait….a loser? You're calling me a loser?"

"Well yeah. You failed in your music career, you bombed in your movie career. Tell me, what have you succeeded at?" asked Allura.

"Now hold on a moment, I didn't fail at my music. I gave up my music for you. It was Lance who convinced me to retire from music to help your career take off. It was Lance who arranged for me to be in that terrible movie. Lance has orchestrated my entire existence around pandering to your selfish ego. It was probably Lance who started the rumor in order to boost your career in some weird, twisted way."

"Don't you dare accuse Lance of this mess. He always has my best interests at heart."

"Lance only cares about your interests as long as it suits his career," Keith yelled. "He needs you to be center stage because it makes him look good and brings in the money." Keith paused, his frustrations finally boiling to the surface. "Shiro was right; you and Lance don't want me to succeed. You're afraid I might actually be more popular than you and neither of you can stand that idea."

"Shiro? You mean Takashi Shirogane?" Lance interjected.

"Yes. I met with him this morning and he's offering me a chance to be an actor."

"Did you agree to his offer?" Lance asked with a bit of worry in his voice.

"Not yet. I asked him if I could think about it for a day or two."

Allura balked. "You're one to talk about being selfish. I need your support in this moment of crisis and all you care about is your precious dream of being a movie star. And you went behind our backs to do it." Allura stomped over to where Lance was standing then turned back to look at Keith. "My career and my reputation in on the line because of this rumor and all you care about is yourself."

"You finally said something that I can agree with. I do care about myself," Keith replied. "I care enough about myself to consider taking a chance to rebuild my career. And frankly I don't care if you like it or not."

Allura lost all control and in a fit of rage she rushed over and slapped Keith hard across the face. "Let's get something straight right now. I'm the celebrity in this house. ME! Not you! You wouldn't have anything right now if it wasn't for my career."

"I lost everything because of your career," Keith yelled back. "I have nothing and I'm tired of being nothing."

"Then get out!" Allura yelled. "There's the door. If you're serious about being an actor, then leave right now."

"Now hold on, the both of you," Lance tried to interrupt. "We have contracts and obligations to think about here."

"You think about it," Keith told him. "I'm leaving." Keith turned and left the room.

Lance and Allura stood there, stunned for a moment and then Allura took off after Keith.

By the time Allura got the door, Keith was already getting into his car.

"Go ahead and leave! I don't need you. You're just a useless piece of trash!"

"Allura, calm down before you draw attention to yourself," Lance told her as he came up behind her.

Keith ignored the screaming popstar and started the engine. As he was pulling out of the driveway, Allura's nanny was pulling in. The two cars stopped beside each other and lowered their windows.

Keith could still hear Allura's screaming voice traveling down the driveway.

"Fair warning," Keith said, motioning to the house. "Allura is on one of her rampages again."

"What is it this time?" Nanny asked.

"The usual, it's something that I did."

"Well, it isn't the first time," Nanny commented.

"But it will be the last." Keith took a breath then smiled. "Goodbye, Nanny."

Keith pulled out onto the street and drove away without looking back. He picked up his phone and dialed. After three rings Shiro answered. "Hello?"

"Sir, this is Keith. I'm in."


	7. Popstar Princess: Aftermath

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **The previous chapter was the turning point in the story, so this chapter sets everything up for the last half of the story. We find out who started the rumor of Allura's pregnancy, Hunk and Pidge question their place in the world, and Lance reveals his master plan on how to fix all of this and the stage is set to bring in yet another famous character from Voltron.

**Popstar Princess:**

**Aftermath**

The front door to Allura's mansion slammed shut. "That obnoxious, useless, selfish prick!" Allura screamed as she stormed through the foyer and into the den. "I can't believe he just left like that!"

"I can," Hunk whispered to Pidge.

"Do you have something to say?" Allura scolded.

"No," Hunk replied, shaking his head defensively.

"Just calm down, Allura," Lance said.

"Calm down? Calm down?" Allura's hands were clenched tightly. "I have rumors of me being pregnant being passed around by the media, my 'boyfriend' decides to leave me because this life just isn't good enough for him anymore, my music career is hanging by a thread and you want me to calm down?"

Before Allura could take a swing at Lance, the front door opened and Allura's nanny entered. She dropped her bags by the door and entered the den to see what all the commotion was about.

"I just saw Keith leave. He said that you were upset," she said.

"Oh Nanny," Allura whimpered as she shuffled over and put her arms around her. "Keith and I had a big fight and now he's gone."

"There, there, my sweet child," Nanny said as she gently pulled Allura's head down to her shoulder. "It'll be alright. You'll see."

"That's not all," Allura continued. "There is a mean rumor going around that I'm pregnant. All the media outlets are talking about it and although he denied it, we're pretty sure that Keith started it."

"Keith didn't start the rumor, I did," Nanny told her.

Allura pulled away from Nanny with a look of confusion and disbelief.

"Wait, you started the rumor?" Lance asked.

"Why would you do that," Allura inquired.

"To help you, my dear."

"How does this help?" asked Lance. "If anything, it started more problems."

"After what happened at the party over the weekend, I was afraid the media would start a smear campaign against Allura. Claiming that she was an alcoholic or some other nonsense. I told the media that she was sick because she was pregnant and that her behavior was due to pregnancy hormones." Nanny walked over to Allura and placed her hand on the young woman's cheek. "I just could sit back and let them drag you through the mud."

"Oh Nanny," Allura pulled the older woman into a big hug. "That is so sweet. You're always looking out for me and I love you for that."

"I love you too, my sweet child."

"Wow. That was a complete one-eighty," remarked Pidge.

"Yep. And now we watch as Lance somehow manages to scheme his way into making this work for him instead of making it go away," Hunk remarked.

Lance cleared his throat in order to get the ladies' attention. "This is sweet and all but there is still the matter that the media thinks Allura is pregnant and Keith, who everyone will assume is the father, just hit the road."

"Why does Keith have to be the father? Couldn't we say that someone else is and that's why Keith left?" Nanny both asked and subtly suggested.

"We could do that…" Lance thought for a moment and then a light bulb went off in his head. "And I think I know who we can claim is the father."

"Who?" asked Allura.

"I don't want to say, just yet." Lance began pacing in circles around Allura and Nanny, rambling more to himself than to them. "But if we play this right, we can convince everyone that you and Keith were having relationship problems, you found solace and love in the arms of someone else, you dumped Keith, and this other man came in and gave you want Keith couldn't."

"And what about the baby?" Allura asked.

"We just act like you're pregnant for the next few months. I'll cancel your shows and claim that it is out of concern for the baby's health. I'll hire an OB/Gyn to play along so the media will see you going to doctor appointments and we can easily fake some sonogram photos. Eventually we'll claim that you had a miscarriage, you can fake being depressed for a few months and then we'll do a big come back tour." Lance was rubbing his hands together in excitement. "Your fans will eat this up."

"And what about Keith? He knows I'm not pregnant and he may leak it to the press?" Allura asked.

"That's a good point," Lance stated. "Well, there is the matter of his contract with Altean Records needing to be bought out so he can move on with his movie career. We can make it part of the deal that he can be released from his contract but he'll have to remain silent concerning this matter and if he doesn't, he'll have to face legal action."

"Do you think he'll go for that?" asked Nanny.

"If we offer to throw some money towards the movie's budget that might convince the studio to push him to agree to our terms."

"Do you really think this plan of yours will work?" Nanny asked.

"Of course it will work. As long as Allura does what she needs to in order to maintain the image of being pregnant."

"And how long will I have to do that?"

"About two months, maybe three," Lance told her. "We don't want it to go too long otherwise everyone will notice that you don't have a baby bump."

"I think we should do it," Nanny said as she looked at Allura.

"Ok, let's do it," Allura said. "So who are you going to get to pretend to be the father of my baby?"

"I have an old friend over at Galra Music Group who might be able to help us out." Lance pulled out his phone and started going through his contact list. "Do me a favor, delete that photo that I asked you to take and don't post anything regarding the pregnancy yet."

With that statement, Lance walked into the living room and made the phone call to put his plan into motion.

Allura gave a heavy sigh. "This has been a hell of a week," she commented.

"I know what will cheer you up," Nanny said with a smile. "I bought you some new clothes at the store this morning. Let's go upstairs and try them on."

"Oh Nanny, you're the best." Allura gave the woman another big hug and the two grab the bags by the door and headed upstairs.

Hunk and Pidge were left alone in the den.

"Pidge, do you ever feel like we're just background characters in a really bad soap opera?"

"More often than I'm willing to admit," Pidge answered.

"I'm starting to think that Keith had the right idea," Hunk commented.

"What do you mean?"

"Getting out of here and away from Allura and her craziness. Striking out on my own, to follow my dream and having a career that goes beyond keeping obsessed fans away from over paid stage personalities."

Pidge looked at Hunk with an inquisitive expression. "What career would you want?"

Hunk smiled as he looked at his friend. "I would love to host my own cooking show."

"If you ever get the opportunity to do that, take me with you. I'd be happy to be your stage manager."

"Deal," Hunk said offering his hand.

Pidge reached out and shook his friend's hand.

"So, what do you say we grab something to eat?" Hunk asked.

"Sounds good to me."

The two stood and headed off to the kitchen.


	8. Popstar Princess: Plans

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **I had a bit of a writer's block while working on this chapter and so for that I apologize in taking so long to get it finished. The previous chapter is meant to be the turning point for the characters so this chapter is meant to set up the new path that they are on.

**Popstar Princess:**

**Best Laid Plans**

Allura stared out the tinted window of the limousine as it traveled through downtown. Her mind was reeling from the day's events; waking up to slanderous news coverage and then Keith abandoning her, and now she's having to attend some secretive meeting at her record label's office. It was almost too much for her to endure.

Allura looked at her phone. She had hundreds of notifications from her social media accounts. The "social media blackout" that Lance had imposed on her, though temporary, was causing a frenzy. Her lack of response on the various platforms was triggering feelings of worry among her fans, providing fodder for her detractors and inciting speculation from news outlets. Her mind was in such a jumble that Allura didn't notice the vehicle come to a stop.

"We're here," Hunk remarked from the seat facing Allura.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Lance responded. He opened the door and the two men stepped out. Lance peeked his head back into the car. "Allura, are you coming?"

"Huh? Oh," she commented. Allura placed her phone into her purse and got out of the limousine. "What are we doing here again?"

"For the third time, we are here to meet with some…colleagues…who have agreed to help us with our little situation," he answered while pointing a finger at Allura's belly.

Allura nodded her understanding and followed Lance and Hunk towards the building. The sun was close to setting and the orange and red hues made the building look like it was on fire. They entered the lobby and checked in with the security guard then headed towards the elevator.

"Now, I had a pull in some major favors to arrange this, so don't screw this up," Lance told Allura as he pushed the call button.

"In case you haven't noticed, I've been the victim in all this. I didn't start any of this and I don't' appreciate being accused of 'screwing up'. Why don't you blame Keith since he is the one who ran off and left this mess to clean up."

"Trust me, I'm giving him his share of the blame," Lance responded.

"Keith was the smart one," Hunk thought to himself as he stood beside Lance.

"Why isn't this damn thing working?" Lance asked as he pushed the call button several more times. "I hate this elevator."

"Are you sure you're pushing it correctly?" asked Hunk.

"There's only one way to push the button," Lance sneered at Hunk. He started pushing the button repeatedly. "See?"

Without saying a word Hunk reached over and pressed the button. It immediately lit up and within seconds the elevator doors opened.

"I hate you," Lance remarked as they all stepped into the elevator.

Hunk grinned. "The feeling is mutual," he thought as he got on the elevator.

"You might as well push the button," Lance sarcastically told Hunk.

Within a few moments the elevator had arrived on the eighth floor and all three disembarked. Lance led them down the hall to Coran's office. Standing outside the door were two large, blue skinned men. Their suits barely hiding how muscular they were.

As Lance led everyone into the office, they saw Coran seated at the conference table along with two more blue skinned gentlemen.

Allura recognized one of the men immediately. "You're Prince Lotor!"

The man stood up, his long white hair framing his light blue face. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Allura."

The larger, older man puffed on his cigar before speaking in a rough, raspy voice. "Legally, he can only be referred to as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince Lotor," he paused to puff again. "We prefer that you just call him Lotor."

"And who might you be?" Allura asked.

"This is the head of the Galra Music Group, Zarkon," Lance explained.

"Most people call me 'King Zarkon' or just 'King'," he remarked.

Lance sat down across from Zarkon; Allura sat across from Lotor and Hunk sat across from an empty seat. Once Allura was seated, Lotor returned to his chair next to Zarkon.

"Shall we get started," Coran remarked.

Lance cleared his throat. "As I stated over the phone, a rumor was started that Allura was sick at a party because she is pregnant. Unfortunately, her 'boyfriend' Keith has decided to pursue an acting career with a producer named Shiro. Which leaves us in a rather precarious situation, public relations wise." Lance took a pause.

"So what we decided to do was to craft a narrative in which we state that Allura is pregnant and that Keith left her high and dry because of jealousy and his history of anger issues. During this time, we will act as though Allura's pregnancy is real, she'll go shopping for baby products, post a bunch of baby stuff on social media and then after three months we say she had a miscarriage, she's depressed and needs to take time off for herself and we simply wait for everything to die down and then we do a big comeback tour."

As Lance presented his plan to Zarkon and Lotor, Allura couldn't take her eyes off the white haired man. He was older, by about ten years, and had been in the music industry longer than her. His career had tapered off in the last decade and he spent most of his time doing personal appearances, hosting award shows, and doing interviews. As Allura stared, she felt strange. There was something about him, something that made her feel calm and comfortable. Feelings she wasn't used to since becoming a pop star.

"So just how are we involved in all of this?" asked Zarkon.

"We want to say that Lotor is the father of Allura's baby," Lance answered. "During the three months, Allura and Lotor will present to the public an image that they are trying to be a family and then when the 'miscarriage' occurs, Allura will be the one to leave so that Lotor's image will remain positive in the public's view."

"That's an intriguing proposal?" Lotor remarked. "What about this Keith? If he knows that Allura isn't pregnant and that our relationship isn't real, won't he go to the press? What is to stop him from revealing the truth?"

"We will convince him to sign a non-disclosure agreement," Lance answered.

"Keith is still under contract," Coran explained. "We will offer a deal to release him without penalty as long as he agrees not to discuss or comment on Allura's situation or her time with him. He'll be free to pursue his acting career and Allura can move on with her career."

"And if he doesn't take your offer?" Lotor inquired.

"Well, then we will be forced to take legal action that will ruin him forever," Coran answered.

"That's a rather ruthless way to do business," Zarkon commented with a smile.

"Business is business," Coran responded. "You of all people should understand that."

"I understand that quite well. But what I don't understand is, why go through such an elaborate scheme? Why not just tell the public the truth?" Zarkon asked as he puffed on his cigar.

"Because the public doesn't want the real truth," Lance explained. "They want us to present the truth as they have concocted it in their minds. Allura's fans would rather it be true that she was pregnant as it gives them something to cherish and praise as well as give them a connection to her. It would be far more beneficial to us that we give them that 'truth'."

"How will cooperating with you on this be beneficial to Lotor and my company?" Zarkon asked.

"Lotor and the Galra Music Group will be compensated for their time and cooperation in this matter," Coran stated. "I know what we are asking is rather unorthodox but I think it can be mutually beneficial for everyone involved. Particularly, in the possibility of revitalizing Lotor's career."

"Lotor's career is just fine," Zarkon responded. "However, I can see the benefits this arrangement may have for both of our companies." Zarkon took another puff and blew a smoke ring up into the air. "Lotor, what do you think of this?"

Lotor had been listening intently to the conversation. He turned and looked compassionately at Allura. "Before I give my opinion, I'd like to hear what Allura has to say."

"Wait…what?" Allura responded. She wasn't use to someone asking her what she thought, especially when it came from someone with such a smooth and seductive voice.

"We're talking about 3 months of pretending to be in a relationship, pretending that we have a child on the way. That's not an easy load to bare, even for real relationships." Lotor was speaking to the group but his eyes never broke away from Allura's. "I refuse to commit to such a performance, unless the Allura agrees to go through with it."

"She's already agreed to it, that's why we're here," Lance responded.

"I prefer to hear those words come from her," Lotor stated calmly.

Allura was taken aback. She wasn't sure what she should say. It took her several moments for her to find her voice. "I think Lance is right. Given the situation that I'm in right now, this is the best option to save my image and my career."

Lotor smiled at her then ran a hand through his hair. "In that case, I will agree to be the father of her child and to go along with this charade as long as necessary."

"Wonderful," Lance exclaimed. He felt as though a huge weight had lifted from his shoulders. "Now, we just need to work out some details concerning press release statements, compensation, living arrangements, etc."

"Perhaps Lotor and Allura should take some time and get to know each other," Zarkon suggested. "I know a great restaurant near here; they could go grab some dinner as we work out the details."

"That's an excellent suggestion, Zarkon."

"Yes, I think that would be a great idea," responded Lotor. "Do you agree, Princess?"

Allura smiled at being called a princess. "Yes, that would be wonderful."

Zarkon and Lotor stood up. Lotor walked around the table and approached Allura. He helped her scoot her chair back and offered his hand as she stood.

"Hunk, can you escort Allura down to Zarkon's car?" Coran asked.

"Yes sir." Hunk, who had been silent and felt uneasy throughout the conversation, perked up at the sound of his name.

"There is no need for that," Zarkon stated. "My security team will take them down and will follow them to the restaurant."

"Well, in that case, Hunk why don't you go find Ginger and the two of you can start prepping the lobby for the press. Once we announce that we'll be giving a statement, we'll need to fit as many as we can down there," Lance said.

"As you wish," Hunk responded. He quickly stood and left the room.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with my people," Zarkon told Coran.

With no further words, Zarkon left the office; Lotor and Allura followed, hand in hand.

"That went well," Lance remarked.

"Too well," Coran responded.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know but something doesn't feel right. I've been in this business a long time and never have I heard of Zarkon to agree to anything so easily, especially a request as unusual as this."

"Should we say anything about it?" Lance asked.

"It's not of your concern," Coran told him. "What I need you to focus on is getting Allura through the next three months. Once this charade is over, that's it. Allura will be dropped from this record label."

"What?" Lance asked astonished. "But she's your biggest star. Why would you consider dropping her?"

"Was our biggest star. Look, she's costing us too much money. We spend more time, energy and capital trying to keep her image clean and all she does is make one mess after another. I've watched how you've been dealing with her, you can't tell me that you haven't had similar thoughts."

Lance slumped down in his chair. "You're right. It's just been one thing after another."

"So, after the miscarriage story ends, she will be dropped from Arusian Records. You're free to continue to work with our clients or you can move on. I'll leave that up to you."

"Thank you, sir."


	9. Popstar Princess: Dinner and a Show

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any of the characters, settings, etc involving Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: The Third Dimension, Voltron Force, or Voltron: Legendary Defender. These stories are for entertainment purposes only and are to be viewed as parodies and satire. _

**Author's Notes: **_This chapter has taken me quite a bit of time to write. I got about a 1/4 of the way through and I stopped. It just didn't feel right. So rather than force myself to continue and produce a subpar story, I started over from scratch. I am quite pleased with how this chapter turned out and I hope you do as well. _

**Popstar Princess:**

**Dinner and a Show**

The ride to the restaurant took about thirty minutes. Lotor tried to strike up a conversation, but Allura's focus was on her phone. She scrolled through page after page of social media posts, reading the comments that her loyal followers were posting. It pained her that she couldn't respond. Lance had told her not to post anything until after the press conference and she agreed to abide by his wishes. She was so lost in the glow of the screen that Allura didn't notice the vehicle coming to a stop.

"Allura…Allura, we're here," Lotor informed her.

"Huh?" Allura looked up at him with a blank stare.

"We've arrived at the restaurant," Lotor responded softly.

"Oh, ok," was her simple reply.

Allura's door opened and she stepped out, thanking their driver. She looked up at the restaurant and stared in disbelief.

Before her wasn't a luxurious, celebrity filled restaurant where the "who's who" in entertainment would wine and dine, discuss business ventures and hook up with co-stars. The brick building was rather small with dingy windows, discolored signs on the door and a neon sign that flickered as it struggled to remain lit.

"Lotor, what is this place?" Allura asked, making no attempt to hide the disgust in her voice.

"This is Manset's," Lotor answered as he stepped around the car. "He's an old friend." Lotor answered as he took Allura's arm and escorted her towards the door.

"So we're just stopping by so you can say a quick 'hello' to him, right? We're not actually eating here?"

"Don't be silly, Allura," Lotor said with a smile. "Of course we're eating here. Manset serves some of the best food in town."

"Lotor, don't you think this place is a bit...beneath us?" Allura asked.

Lotor stopped walking and turned to face Allura. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we're celebrities. We should be eating at a four or five star restaurant. Lance would never let me be seen at a place that looks like…"

"That looks like what?" Lotor interjected.

"That looks like it belongs in some run-down, desert, tourist town. Does it even have one star?"

"My dear Allura, you will learn that looks can be deceiving. Fancy décor, elitist clientele and an obviously biased industry rating does not always translate to delicious food and good service." Lotor pointed at the restaurant in front of them. "Manset puts quality over fame. He may not have the big names stars eating here, but those who do will always come back."

"If you say so," Allura remarked as the two of them resumed their walk towards the door.

Before Lotor could grab the handle the door burst open and there stood Manset, in all his red-skinned, four armed glory. "Lotor, my friend, it is so good to see you," Manset said in a heavy accent that sounded a bit German or Austrian to Allura's ears.

"It is good to see you too, Manset." Lotor greeted his friend with a smile and a hug.

"And who is this lovely lady," Manset asked.

"This is Allura."

Manset reached out to take Allura's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, my dear."

Reluctantly, Allura stretched her hand out and placed it in Manset's. She watched as Manset kissed her hand, doing her best to hide her disgust. "The pleasure is all yours," Allura said in a whispered voice.

"I see your taste in women has vastly improved," Manset teased Lotor.

"I hope the taste of your food has improved," Lotor joked in response.

"Why don't you come in and find out for yourself," Manset said as he held the door open.

Lotor motioned for Allura to enter first. Allura feigned a smile as she entered the establishment with Lotor and Manset following.

At the Altean Records headquarters, Hunk and Ginger were busy setting up chairs in the spacious lobby.

Ginger noticed that Hunk was being more quiet than usual and that he seemed off in his own world. "Hey, are you ok?" she asked the burly body guard.

"I'm fine," Hunk answered in a short, sharp tone.

Ginger put down the chair she hand in her hands and walked up beside Hunk. She placed a hand on his bicep and looked him directly in the eyes. "I can see something is bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm just the hired muscle around here. It's not my place to say anything," Hunk responded, though he did not try to shrug off Ginger's touch.

"You're also a person with feelings." She motioned for him to sit down and then took a seat herself. "Now tell me, what's on your mind."

As he sat down, Hunk looked around for Lance. He saw his boss standing off in a corner, speaking into his phone and visibly frustrated. Hunk leaned in closer to Ginger so that he wouldn't have to talk too loud.

"I'm just not happy working here anymore," he confessed.

"Why not?" Ginger asked.

Hunk nodded towards Lance.

"Lance is the problem?" Ginger inquired.

"Mostly," whispered Hunk. "When I was hired, I figured this would be an easy job. Just keep nut job fans away from a big name pop star. At first it was great; the pay would good, I got a lot of perks like free food and I've traveled all over the world. But now…"

"What about now?"

"Lance has coddled Allura to the point where it feels like I'm babysitting a spoiled brat. The company made Keith give up his career for her and then they don't even try to stop him from leaving. Plus the way that I was dismissed in favor of Zarkon's security people escorting Allura to dinner with Lotor annoyed me. But to top it all off, this scheme of pretending Allura is pregnant just for the publicity of it, it's flat out disgusting." Hunk gave a heavy sigh.

"I get the feeling this is a bit more personal for you," Ginger commented.

"My sister had a difficult time conceiving a child. Her and her husband struggles for several years and even went through a miscarriage." Hunk wiped away a tear that was forming in the corner of his eye. "They have two beautiful children now but it was a difficult road for them. So seeing Lance treat this so…so…callously…infuriates me and makes me want to throw up at the same time."

"Have you tried talking to Lance about this?"

"Have you tried talking to Lance about anything?" Hunk asked her.

Ginger just silently shook her head.

"He doesn't listen…unless it's about something that can make him money or get his client in the headlines." Hunk shifted in his seat. "I just don't want to do this anymore."

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to have my own tv show," Hunk replied instantly.

"What type of show?"

Hunk shrugged. "A cooking show, a travel show, a home repair show…I don't know."

Ginger was intrigued with Hunk's idea. "Do you know anything about those topics?"

"Oh yes, quite a bit actually. Before I became a body guard, I worked in many different industries so that I could help my parents."

Before Ginger could respond Lance stormed over. "What the hell am I paying you for?!"

"We were just taking a short break," Ginger replied.

"Well taking a break isn't going to get these chairs set up in time for the press conference," Lance told her.

Hunk could feel is anger rising. "Don't talk to her like that," Hunk said. "It wasn't her fault, I had something on my mind and I needed to talk about it."

Lance turned his attention to Hunk. "I didn't realize talking was part of your job description. Now, how about you do what I told you to do and get these chairs set up."

"No," Hunk blurted out.

"No?" Lance asked. "Did YOU just tell ME 'no'?"

"I'm not setting up another chair until you apologize to Ginger," Hunk demanded as he crossed his arms.

Ginger looked at Hunk in astonishment. She didn't know what to say in response to his defense of her.

"Let's get something straight right now, I don't apologize…to anyone. Now get your stupid ass back to work or you can turn in your resignation right now!"

Those were the last words out of Lance's mouth before the world suddenly went dark.

Lance awoke staring up at the ceiling. His head was throbbing and he was having trouble seeing out his left eye. "What happened?"

"You were punched and you hit your head when you landed on the floor," replied a security guard who was attending to Lance.

"I was punched?" With some pain, Lance managed to sit up.

"Hunk nailed you hard." said a nearby security guard.

"How long was I down?"

"You've been unconscious for about 15 minutes," said the first guard. "We should get you to the hospital to make sure you don't have any other injuries."

"That can wait. I have a press conference in," Lance checked his watch. "in forty-five minutes."

"Sir, I really think you should go to the hospital," the second security guard stated.

"I'll go right after the press conference." With some assistance, Lance stood up. "Where is Hunk and Ginger?"

"They left as soon as you hit the ground."

"Remind me to press charges in the morning. In the meantime, I need to find someone to get these chairs set up."

The two guards gave each other a knowing look and sighed.

Lotor and Allura were nestled into one of the corner booths. The lighting in Manset's was dim and soft music played over speakers positioned throughout the restaurant; it gave the atmosphere a rather romantic feeling. The two sipped on their glasses of wine as they waited for their food.

"You look a bit, unsettled, my dear," Lotor stated. "Is everything alright?"

"No. So much has happened in the last few days that I feel like I'm drowning. My whole world has been turned upside down this week…I lost a big career deal to my rival Romelle, Keith deciding that his career is more important than me, this whole pregnancy thing and us having to pretend to be in a relationship, I haven't been able to post anything on social media and to top it all off, I'm eating dinner in a restaurant that no one of my status should even step foot in," Allura ranted. "Lance would never let me be seen in a place like this."

"Do you always do everything Lance tells you?" Lotor inquired.

"Well of course. He is my agent after all. He always has my best interest at heart."

"For some reason, I have trouble believing that." Lotor took a sip of his wine.

"Are you implying that Lance doesn't care about me?" Allura sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

Lotor set his glass down. Despite Allura's diva attitude, Lotor remained calm and composed. "All I'm saying is that not everything and not everyone, is as they appear. Including Lance"

"I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for him," Allura said in defense of her agent. "I owe my career to him."

"Well, that is his job. He has to take care of you and present you in the best way possible to the public so that your fans will continue to support you and your record sales continue to climb. Without you, he has no job."

Before Allura could respond the waiter brought their dinner to them. "One garlic-ginger chicken with cilantro and mint for the gentleman and one grilled chicken with lemon and thyme for the lovely lady. Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Not at this time, thank you," Lotor answered.

"Wow! This looks delicious," Allura commented.

"Just wait until you taste it," Lotor responded.

"Excuse me, sir," spoke the waiter. "Manset asked me to tell you that he prepared dinner for your security detail outside and that it is on the house."

"That is very generous of him. Tell him that I said 'thank you'."

The waiter smiled and stepped away as Lotor took a bite of his dinner.

Allura cut a piece of chicken and with slight hesitation ate it. Her eyes became so wide that Lotor thought they would pop out of her head.

"This is so good," Allura said with a mouth full of food.

"I told you," Lotor took another bite.

"I just can't believe how amazing this food is," Allura managed to say before shoving a fork full into her mouth.

Lotor smiled and went back to eating. The two of them spent the rest of dinner in silence, mostly because Allura was enjoying the food so much she was practically shoveling it into her mouth.

Once their plates were empty the waiter came to clean up the table. "Is there anything else I can get you?" he asked.

Lotor looked over at Allura who had a look of content on her face. "All we need is the bill."

"No need for that, my friend," Manset said as he approached the table. "Tonight, dinner is on me."

"That's very generous of you, Manset," Lotor responded. "But I don't feel right not paying for this wonderful meal."

"In that case, the next time you come in, I'll charge you double," Manset said with a laugh.

"Or I could just buy the restaurant from you," Lotor joked.

"Even you couldn't afford to buy me out," Manset responded.

The two chuckled for a moment then Lotor stood and hugged his friend. "It's always good to see you, Manset. But we must be going now. We have a press conference to attend."

"I understand. I hope when you return, you bring this lovely, young woman with you," Manset stated as he pulled Allura's chair back and helped her to stand.

"Thank you and I will be happy to come back," Allura responded.

Lotor gave her a quizzical look then smiled. He then stepped over to her and took her hand. "Have a wonderful night, Manset. And I promise, I will see you soon."

With those final salutations, Lotor and Allura left the restaurant.

Lance was pacing in front of the lobby entrance. The press had gathered and were getting restless. When Lotor and Allura finally pulled up in front of the building, Lance practically ran out to greet them.

"Where have you two been?" he asked in an irritated tone. "I have a room full of reporters and you two are showing up fifteen minutes late."

"Dinner took longer than expected," Lotor said in his soothing voice.

"I had the most wonderful meal," Allura stated. "It was a chicken topped with…"

"I don't care," Lance interrupted her. "We need to address the press, right now. Let's go." Lance grabbed Allura's arm and practically yanked her off the ground as he led her into the building. Lotor followed closely behind.

"I want to thank you all for coming tonight," Lance said to the reporters. "I know many of you have questions regarding the latest rumors regarding my client, Allura and it is my goal tonight to provide you with the answers to those questions."

Lance was standing behind a podium, front and center of the gathered journalists. Allura, her Nanny and Coran were standing just behind Lance on his left with Lotor and Zarkon standing to his right.

Lotor noticed Allura appeared a bit nervous but was trying to hide it. He reached his hand out to her. Allura noticed the gesture and welcomed it. She held her hand out and felt his soft, gentle grip.

Allura's nanny took notice of Allura holding Lotor's hand and looked upon him with a questionable gaze.

"I don't want to waste your time so I will get right to the point," Lance continued. "The rumor regarding Allura being pregnant…is true."

Immediately the crowd of reporters and photographers erupted into a flurry of questions and camera flashes.

"When did this happen?" asked one reporter.

"Is Keith the father?" asked another reporter.

"Please, settle down," Lance asked of the crowd. "Several weeks ago, after a rather ardent fight with her boyfriend Keith, Allura attended a party hosted by the artist formerly known as Prince Lotor. In a moment of heartbreak and loneliness, Allura found solace in Lotor's arms."

Allura shifted uncomfortably. She trusted Lance and his advice on this course of action, but she couldn't help but feel a bit of uneasiness. Lotor gave Allura's hand a slight squeeze as though to reassure her.

"Upon learning of Allura's pregnancy, she will be cancelling all of her scheduled concerts and public appearances for the next few months." The room filled with the noise of reporters trying to speak over one another.

"Allura's health and the health of her baby are our top priorities and the only way to ensure their safety is to minimize her travel and public exposure."

Zarkon leaned over to whisper in Lotor's ear. "He's good."

"Yes, quite the silver-tongued devil," Lotor remarked. "Perhaps you should consider hiring him."

"I just may have to consider it," Zarkon responded.

"After much discussion, it has been decided that Allura will be moving into Lotor's spacious mansion. We feel that this is the best option to provide Allura with a stable and caring environment and we would like to say 'thank you' to Lotor for his graciousness."

"Will Allura still be represented by Altean Records?" one reporter shouted from the back row.

"Yes. Allura will continue to be a client of Altean Records and we look forward to having her back in the recording booth as soon as possible. She has been an asset to the company and to the music industry as a whole and we can't wait until she is back on stage entertaining the world."

"Where is Keith? How does this affect his relationship with Altean Records?"

"Keith and Altean Records have decided to part ways. He currently pursuing other career options and we wish him the best. As we conclude this press conference, I would like to thank you all again for coming and ask that everyone bear with us over the next few months as Allura faces the challenges of motherhood and to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Good night."

The room erupted once again as Lance and the group stepped away from the makeshift stage and out the front door, where Lotor's vehicle was still awaiting them.

"That went well," Lance commented in a self-congratulatory manner.

"Now we just have to get through the next three months," remarked Nanny.

"After what I just saw, I don't think you have anything to worry about with Lance at the helm," Zarkon commented.

Lotor ignored the others and focused his attention on Allura. "Are you alright?"

"I'm just very tired right now," Allura stated solemnly.

"Let's go home so you can rest," Lotor told her.

"Yes, get as much rest as you can. The next three months are going to be tough but we'll get through this together," Lance stated.

"Thank you," Allura said. "To all of you."

Lotor and Allura entered the back of the car and rode off into the night. Zarkon got into his own limo and headed off to a dinner party. Nanny went back inside to try to get herself on camera, leaving Coran and Lance alone in front of the building.

"I'm taking an awful risk, Lance. This had better work."

"Trust me, Coran. I have everything under control."

"I hope so," Coran said as he turned to go back inside. "It's not just your career on the line."

With those parting words, Coran returned to the lobby, leaving Lance alone to contemplate the future.


End file.
